Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms talks governor bid
Bottoms served as the 60th Mayor of Atlanta and held top positions in the Democratic National Committee and Biden Administration.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Keisha Lance Bottoms, who served as the 60th Mayor of Atlanta and held top positions in the Democratic National Committee and Biden Administration, officially launched her campaign for the 2026 Georgia governor’s race.
“The state of Georgia has offered hope and opportunity for my family for many generations, and right now we’re looking for a fighter,” Bottoms said. “Somebody who’s going to go out and fight for families and fight for communities. I was a fighter when I served as mayor of Atlanta. And I’m ready to fight on behalf of all Georgians.”
Before being elected mayor in 2017, Bottoms was a member of the Atlanta City Council. She decided not to seek a second term in 2021 and was nominated by President Biden as Vice Chair of Civic Engagement and Voter Protection at the DNC for the 2021-2025 term. She later joined the Biden Administration as Senior Advisor and Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. She also served as a member of the President’s Export Council.
Under Bottoms’ leadership, she says the City of Atlanta was able to establish 7,000 affordable housing units. She says bringing down housing prices statewide will be a top priority of her campaign.
“One of the things I will tackle is making sure that we address this issue of corporate landlords who are buying up entire communities and making it much more difficult for people to afford to buy houses,” Bottoms said. Even those who are renting often can’t find anyone to make repairs in their houses when they are bought up by these out-of-state corporate landlords.”
An estimated 300,000 Georgians are in a healthcare coverage gap. Bottoms says this will be another key focus for her, as she estimates that $710 million has been “left on the table.”
“We battle until the end when we fight Alabama in football and LSU in football,” Bottoms said. “But yet, we’re losing to Alabama and Louisiana when it comes to healthcare because we’ve not expanded Medicaid. They have.”
Bottoms says her decision to re-enter Georgia politics comes in part due to actions by the Trump Administration and DOGE. She says federal job and program cuts have impacted some of Georgia’s most vulnerable residents, such as veterans.
“It makes no sense that Trump has gone after the people in so many ways and disregarded the needs of people who have served this country honorably and made sure that we have remained a democracy. So, as governor, I am going to do everything I can to fill in the gaps.”
Bottoms says she plans to eliminate income taxes for teachers to address the current shortage. She credited Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) for business growth across the state in recent years and says party affiliation wouldn’t force her to change what has worked.
“I’m not the type of leader who says you’ve got to come in and throw everything out because somebody else came up with it,” Bottoms said. “To the extent that his policies are working well then those are the policies that I’ll lean into and build upon.”
The governor’s race will be Bottoms’ first bid at statewide office. She says as she and her team knock doors and make phone calls, she plans to expand her profile and name recognition as a “fighter” and “battle-tested leader.”
“I fight for what I believe in,” Bottoms said. “I fight on behalf of our communities. I’m not afraid of Donald Trump. I’m not afraid to make difficult decisions. I’m not afraid to listen to people even when they disagree with me. And those are the same traits I’ll take into office as Governor of Georgia. I’m going to always fight for Georgia. I always have and I always will.”
